1. Technical Field
The embodiments described herein generally relate to a system and method for controlling the water flow to household appliances.
2. Background Art
Various household appliances use water to perform various tasks. For example, such household appliances include clothes washing machines and dishwashers. The appliances are generally coupled to a water supply in the house via a plurality of flexible hoses. Original equipment manufacturers for the appliances provide control valves internal to the appliance for controlling the flow of water. In some cases, the flexible hoses may burst due to high amounts of pressure present at the water supply. While the water supply includes valves that can be turned off to reduce the likelihood of the hoses bursting, users may forget to shut off the valves when the appliance is not in use.
Some aftermarket manufacturers provide a system that includes automatic shutoff valves positioned at the water supply and a water detection device to detect the presence of water on the floor. The system closes the valve in response to detection device detecting water on the floor. While such a system may be useful, the system does not mitigate the potential for the hose to burst due to high pressure at the water supply. Other aftermarket manufacturers provide a system having water flow shut off valves positioned external to the appliance and proximate to the water supply to control the flow of water into the appliance. As the system senses current flow to the appliance, the system opens the valves to allow water to pass to the appliance while the appliance controls internal valves to open to allow water to pass into the tub. While this system may also be useful, the addition of the valves to the water supply creates a condition whereby the valves located internally within the appliance become redundant.
In most instances, original equipment manufacturers provide rubber hoses that may be manipulated to allow the consumer to mate the hose to the water supply in the house. The rubber hoses may be rotated or twisted to allow the consumer to mate the hoses to the water supply in the house. The hoses equipped with the household appliance generally have a length of approximately four feet. However, in the event a consumer needs a longer hose, the consumer may have to travel to a local hardware store to purchase a longer hose since the rubber hose provided with the original appliance cannot be stretched to a longer length.
Some consumers may purchase a steel braided hose to eliminate concerns for bursting hoses. In addition, consumers have the option of purchasing steel braided hoses at lengths that are generally greater than the length of the flexible hoses provided by the original equipment manufacturer. While the steel braided hoses may be effective, such hoses may be expensive. Particularly in the case where a longer braided hoses is needed in order to couple the appliance to the water supply.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide for a stretch hose and a stretch cable with an originally equipped appliance to ensure that the hose has sufficient length to mate with the water supply of the house. In addition, it would be desirable to eliminate redundancy with respect to valves provided by the original equipment manufacturer and valves provided by an aftermarket provider.